Upper Playground News

November 9, 2016

by Ariadna Zierold

Denver based artist Ravi Zupa’s images are drawn and painted by his hand. He considers books the best way to experience art and has spent decades studying art from cultures and movements that span history and originate from nearly all geographical regions. Being entirely self-taught, he looks for inspiration in works by German Renaissance print makers, Flemish primitives, abstract expressionists, Japanese woodblock artists, Mughal paintings, religious iconography from Europe, Asia and Pre-Columbian Latin America, and revolutionary propaganda the world over. With a distaste for ironic art or the thoughtless appropriation of culture, he integrates seemingly unrelated images in search of something universal.

Ravi demonstrates mastery in a wide range of media including painting, printmaking, drawing, ceramic and assemblage sculpture, and collage. He employs recycled materials such as blueprints, envelopes and old letters salvaged from dumpsters.